Beef Buzz News

Talking Feeder Cattle Markets and Winter Forage with Derrell Peel

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 05:38:07 CDT

Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel continues as our guest on today's Beef Buzz- as we zero in on Feeder Cattle markets and the impact of this past weekend's rains on pasture and range conditions in the southern plains.

Dr. Peel says that he does not see much if any seasonal price pressure on either calves or yearlings, especially with the large numbers of cattle that moved earlier than normal this year because of drought conditions. He points to the recent auction market reports as signs that not much weakness is likely to be in play anytime soon.

The slow gentle rains that rolled across Oklahoma and parts of North Texas and Southern Kansas will do little to help with a lot of immediate forage supplies- but will help those pastures as they go into the winter season, sparking hope for better growing conditions next spring- if we can follow these rains with additional showers in the weeks ahead. That is also the case for winter wheat pasture- fall grazing by stockers will be very limited across the region- almost non-existent- but there might be some forage available for some of our mama cow herds this winter if we get some followup rains and the wheat gets well established going into winter.

Dr. Peel's comments came from his conversation on Monday of this week on Agriculture Today as heard on the K-State Network.

The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the listen bar below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.